National Economic Impacts from U.S. Air Force CRADAs, 2000-2020

This study quantifies the national economic impacts of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) established between the U.S. Air Force and non-federal organizations, primarily private-sector partners and universities.

In addition to quantifying economic impacts to the U.S. economy, the study highlights the contributions of Air Force CRADAs to national security, evaluates participants’ perceptions of the CRADA program, and highlights select successful technological outcomes of these partnerships. This analysis is based on a survey of 1,263 CRADAs established between 2000 and 2020.

Nearly 900 non-Air Force partners participated in these agreements. The survey focused on the sales of products and services enabled by these cooperative research projects. Analysts used the IMPLAN model to estimate the resulting economic impacts of these sales. Impacts are presented through estimates of economic output, value added, employment, labor income, and tax revenues. Respondents also described multiple non-financial benefits of CRADAs and shared their reasons for working with the Air Force on these projects.